Technology gets a guernsey

Sports uniforms can now do so much more than show what team you
play for, Nick Miller reports.

Electricity-carrying cotton thread weaves through the shirt from
the computer.

ATHLETES often wear their hearts on their sleeves, but new
sports jerseys developed at the University of Sydney will also show
their foul count.

Honours student Mitchell Page has used cutting-edge wearable
technology to make basketball uniforms a mine of information -
updating and displaying in real-time a player's fouls, score, and
even the amount of time left in a game.

"Team sports clothing already acts as a form of communication,
about identity and position and team and sponsors," Mr Page says.
"Maybe it can also carry statistics and information about the game
itself."

He has built four prototype jerseys that he says helped players
keep track of games and perform better, and increased spectators'
enjoyment and engagement.

He predicts that such technology could transform the way sports
are played on the field, and even use the players as billboards for
video advertising at half-time.

Mr Page, a bachelor of design computing undergraduate, came up
with the idea while playing computer sports games, which use
graphics and icons to tie statistics to the virtual players and
track their performance. He wondered how such on-screen graphics in
sports telecasts could be made available to players and spectators
at the ground.

Together with his supervisor, Dr Andrew Vande Moere, he came up
with the TeamAwear system. They chose to try the concept on
basketball because of its amount of fast-changing data such as
points, fouls, statistics and time limits.

At first, he says, he considered a text-based display. "Players
said they didn't want text or complex images," he says. "During the
game their cognitive load is already so high, they want something
simple and subtle where they can straightaway tell something has
happened."

Players strap on a small computer the size of two decks of
cards, which wirelessly connects to a courtside computer that
updates the game statistics in real time. Electricity-carrying
cotton thread weaves through the shirt from the computer to
flexible panels in the jersey.

The panels use electro-luminescence, a brightly-glowing
technology previously used in advertising displays or on T-shirts
worn by ravers at dance parties.

Panels on the shoulder of the shirt indicate a player's foul
count. As the player scores more points a 'bar graph' rises up the
side of the torso, and chest panels light up when one minute of
game time remains, or 10 seconds on the shot clock. A panel on the
back lights up on the shirts of the winning team.

Mr Page says tests of four prototype jerseys in real basketball
games during the past few months showed great results.

"Players' awareness of the information was noticeably increased,
and the spectators reported a large increase in knowledge and
recall of the information," he says. "The athletes said when they
saw the information, such as the one-minute warning, there was a
sudden change in their behaviour - they could right away pick up
their pace.

"It also made them more motivated, relaxed and confident when
they could see that they were winning - which is something we
didn't expect or design for. Also the referees and coach had to
consult the (scoring) bench much less."

Mr Page plans to make more jerseys so he can see how it affects
a five-on-five game. He sees great potential for the
technology.

"We could do this for volleyball or netball or hockey or
football and tailor-make it for those sports," he says. "If this
was made commercially viable, maybe in half-time it could show
advertisements. We could do things like showing physical endurance
using body monitoring technology.

"In this project athletes didn't want to show things like
fatigue and heart rate because they felt it would give the
opposition an advantage. But spectators really wanted to know that
kind of information.

"That kind of idea could be used as a training aid."

Further afield, this kind of technology could be used by
emergency response teams, for instance firefighters who could
communicate information through the heat and noise of an
inferno.

SPONSORED LINKS

1163871338586-smh.com.auhttp://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/technology-gets-a-guernsey/2006/11/20/1163871338586.htmlsmh.com.auThe Age2006-11-21Technology gets a guernseyNICK MILLERSports uniforms can now do so much more than show what team you
play for, Nick Miller reports.Technologyhttp://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/11/21/next1_wearable_narrowweb__300x391,0.jpg

Electricity-carrying cotton thread weaves through the shirt from
the computer.